Virtual PBX and Expense Management

A traditional PBX system requires special wiring, training and lots of capital. In a few years, you may have to discard the PBX and get a bigger one. More capacity and different equipment equal more training and more expenses.

With a Virtual PBX system can be easily scaled either way to provide you a PBX system that your business needs. VoIP technology now makes it possible to have a remotely hosted Virtual PBX system with no special telephone wiring at all. The phones connect to your existing data network and and uses your existing High Speed Internet service, either DSL or T1, and is just as easy if not easier than adding another computer to the existing data network. All you have to do is buy the phones (you need phones anyway) along with adaptors to connect them to your network and pay a small bundled rate for unlimited local and long distance service plus those special PBX features.

Substituting the Virtual PBX / VOIP option with traditional phone service offers three potential advantages:

1) Costs can be substantially lower due to no charges for local service connections or long-distance calls.
2) Companies do not have to install and maintain a PBX (private branch exchange) system to provide individual phone lines for their employees.
3) Voice communications can be integrated with other existing or future data functions and can deliver advanced features than are not available with plain old telephone service (POTS).

Lower long-distance and local service expenses are the most obvious advantage for consumers and companies alike. What company or business would not want to cut costs while at the same time improving operational and functional capability. When a business moves to VOIP technologies and away from POTS they can sidestep the additional charges from the taxes on the traditional telephone service. This lack of taxation may change as the local, state, and federal governments realize that the untaxed status of VOIP could cause significant reductions in tax revenues that they received from traditional telephone service.

More significant cost reductions occur from the elimination of separate lines for voice and data. As an example, most medium sized businesses with 20 or more lines on a PBX lease a T1line for voice and a separate T1 for Internet access. With Virtual PBX / VOIP, one costly T1 lease can be eliminated. Smaller locations could continue to use the broadband Internet service they currently use, although cable Internet is not recommended, and eliminate most if not of their traditional phone service. Although cable Internet is a viable choice for residential services it has disadvantages for business use.

Unlike Virtual PBX, traditional PBX hardware can be very expensive and the requirement for on-site maintenance only adds to that expense. With a Virtual PBX you can have an individual phone line for each employee as well as features such as voice mail, conference calling, call forwarding, and many other features that are not included with traditional PBX. Using VOIP technology a company can have a Virtual PBX without all hardware and maintenance expenses.

Not only can a Virtual PBX reduce expenses for a business, but VOIP technology allows for more advanced features than even the most sophisticated traditional PBX. With VOIP technology a employees can access a web interface that allows them to call forward to any list of numbers offsite that they wish. This same access can allow for call screening that only allows or
blocks calls from specific numbers. Voice mail can be forward to email addresses, and both voice mail and faxes can be managed with a visual mailbox like one used for email.

Joseph Brochin
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